Queensland virtual hospital to offer emergency and other care

Queensland’s virtual hospital expands to emergency care

The Queensland state government has set aside A$27 million ($18 million) to expand Queensland’s Virtual Hospital services to cover emergency care.

According to a press release, the new virtual urgent care service will address non-life-threatening emergencies, including acute respiratory illnesses, allergic reactions, rashes, stings, pain, infections, burns, children with fever, gastroenteritis and dizziness.

Meanwhile, an adjacent service, the Queensland’s Telestroke Service will be integrated into Queensland’s Virtual Hospital later this year.

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MED connects the DME via the cloud

My Emergency Doctor telemedicine service can now provide system interoperability to enable hospitals to conduct virtual consultation rounds.

Recently, MED, which connects senior specialist emergency physicians to hospitals virtually 24/7implemented InterSystems’ cloud-based managed integration engine to support a large, unnamed suburban hospital’s nighttime virtual supervision service, improving handoffs and length of stay.

According to a press release, the hospital in question preferred to interact with MED’s EMR system via its existing HL7 messaging standard. Until recently, MED performed EMR integrations using a secure file sharing service. “With HL7 interoperability, we can receive more information faster and create a better clinical workflow. If something happens, we get the data immediately and a nurse doesn’t have to review it,” said Ben Rhodes, MED’s chief technology officer. sharing.

InterSystems’ HealthShare Health Connect Cloud will be further expanded to ensure interoperability with MED’s other telemedicine services, with InterSystems partner Fluffy Spider Technologies providing ongoing support.

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New South Wales to trial body cameras in hospitals

The State Government of New South Wales has launched a 12-month trial of body cameras in some public hospitals.

According to a press release, the trial aims to assess the effectiveness of the technology in deterring and defusing violent incidents in hospitals. It has been noted that cases of assaults against staff in public hospitals have increased in recent years.

The trial will be rolled out across nine public hospitals, including Westmead and Nepean hospitals. Up to 300 body cameras will be deployed to hospital security staff. The equipment will only be used to record scenes that may pose a risk of harm to staff, patients or others.

The use of body cameras is one of several recommendations proposed in the hospital security review by former NSW Police Minister Peter Anderson to improve hospital security.